The present disclosure relates generally to absorbent articles intended for personal wear, and more particularly to disposable absorbent articles having a fastening system for selectively fastening and refastening the article about the wearer.
Many absorbent articles intended for personal wear, such as diapers, training pants, feminine hygiene products, adult incontinence products, bandages, medical garments and the like are designed to be sufficiently absorbent to absorb moisture from liquid body exudates including urine, menses, blood, etc., away from the wearer to reduce skin irritation caused by prolonged wetness exposure. Diapers, as an example, are typically placed and secured on a wearer using a set of primary fastening tabs, such as adhesive tabs or mechanical (e.g., hook or loop) fastening system tabs, and left in place to absorb insults as well as to contain fecal waste.
For articles where the attachment is refastenable, such as diapers and some training pants, pop-opens (separation of the fasteners) can sometimes occur as a result of stresses placed on the attachment by movement of the wearer. For example, and particularly for absorbent articles employing only one fastening system, as an infant or other wearer of the absorbent article moves about (e.g., crawls, walks, runs, bends, etc.) the shear stress placed on the fastening system due to the infant's movement may cause fastening tabs or the like to loosen or even come unfastened completely, resulting in an absorbent article which tends to leak, sag, or fall off of a wearer.
Accordingly, some known absorbent articles comprise more than one fastening system and/or fasteners to reduce the likelihood of the article leaking, sagging, falling off the user, etc. For example, FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a known diaper, indicated generally at 10, comprising two fastening systems: a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system. FIG. 1 depicts the diaper 10 in an unfolded and laid flat condition to show an outer cover 32 of the diaper 10 which faces away from a wearer when the diaper 10 is worn. The diaper 10 has a longitudinal direction 12 and a lateral direction 14.
In the longitudinal direction 12, the diaper 10 defines a front portion 16, a back portion 18, and a crotch portion 20 extending between and connecting the front portion 16 and the back portion 18. The diaper 10 also includes a bodyside liner 30 (facing away from the view depicted in FIG. 1 and shown in FIG. 4), and an absorbent core 34 located between the bodyside liner 30 and the outer cover 32. The diaper 10 has opposite longitudinal side edges 28 that extend between a back waist edge 38 and a front waist edge 40. The diaper 10 also includes a pair of longitudinally-extending leg cuffs 36. The leg cuffs 36 may be adapted to fit about the legs of a wearer in use and serve as a mechanical barrier to the lateral flow of body exudates.
The back portion 18 of the diaper 10 includes a pair of back ears, indicated generally at 22. Each ear 22 includes a primary first fastening component 24 as part of the primary fastening system used to secure the diaper 10 around the waist of a wearer. The primary fastening system also comprises a primary second fastening component 76 for selectively receiving and fastening to the primary first fastening components 24. For example, the diaper 10 can be selectively moved from an unfastened configuration (as seen in FIG. 2) to a fastened or wear configuration by attaching the back waist region 18 (and more specifically the back ears 22) to the front waist region 16 to define a three-dimensional wear configuration of the diaper having a waist opening and a pair of leg openings (as seen in FIG. 3). More particularly, the diaper 10 can be selectively moved from the unfastened configuration to the wear configuration by fastening the primary first fastening components 24 to the primary second fastening components 76 as is well known in the art.
The diaper 10 also includes a secondary fastening system comprising secondary first fastening components 26 and secondary second fastening components 78. For example, the illustrated diaper 10 comprises a pair of secondary first fastening components 26 as part of the front portion 16 of the diaper, with a secondary second fastening component 78 provided on each back ear 22. The primary second fastening component 76 can serve as a strip 80 or carrier material for the secondary first fastening components 26. In such configurations, when the diaper 10 is moved to the wear configuration, the secondary first fastening components 26 engage the back portion 18 of the diaper 10 (and more particularly, the secondary second fastening components 78 provided on the back ears 22) such that both the primary fastening system and the secondary fastening system secure the diaper 10 around the waist of a wearer, as is shown in FIG. 3.
However, providing the secondary first fastening components 26 on the diaper 10 may pose drawbacks when the diaper 10 is worn. For example, the secondary first fastening components 26 may lead to discomfort or decreased mobility for a wearer of the diaper 10 when the wearer moves in such a manner (e.g., crawls, walks, runs, bends, etc.) that the front portion 16 of the diaper 10 moves, bends, or otherwise deforms. There is a need, therefore, for a cost-effective and improved fastening system provided on an absorbent article which provides for increased protection against leakage and secure attachment of the absorbent article without the associated discomfort discussed above.